The day starts early, with a meeting scheduled in the endless building owned by Kai’s family. A skyscraper made of glass that seems to stretch forever, packed with so many offices it’s impossible to remember them all.
Kai gets ready differently than usual.
More composed. More controlled. More… professional.
He steps into the walk‑in closet and the lights turn on automatically, revealing perfect rows of shirts, pants, jackets.
His eyes scan everything, then he chooses without hesitation.
He pulls on his trousers, buttons them.
Adds a belt, tightens it, adjusts it.
Then he grabs a white shirt, slips it over his shoulders, and starts buttoning it from top to bottom—slowly, like he’s not in a rush.
He opens a drawer.
Inside, a collection of watches gleams under the light.
He picks one, fastens it around his wrist with a sharp click.
Then he takes the gold chain he almost always wears and lets it fall against his chest.
Jacket on.
The shoulders settle perfectly, like it was tailored just for him.
Shoes next, laced with calm precision.
And finally his hair: fingers through it, a quick fix to the rebellious strand, and that automatic gesture at the collar—his old habit.
His phone vibrates on the nightstand.
It’s his uncle.
“Get moving. We’re all here already.”
Kai: “I’m on my way.”
He grabs his keys from the entrance table and heads to the garage.
The black Maserati waits for him, shining like it just rolled out of a showroom.
He opens the door, sits, starts the engine. The roar fills the space.
He pulls into traffic toward the city center, hands steady on the wheel, eyes locked on the road.
The phone vibrates again.
Jairo: Where are you? You’re the only one missing.
Kai accelerates.
He arrives at the company building: glass, steel, an entrance that looks like it wants to swallow whoever walks through it.
A valet rushes over, opens the door with a “Good morning, sir,” and drives the Maserati away.
Kai adjusts his collar again, walks toward the entrance, and passes through the revolving doors. One hand in his pocket, the other free, the luxury watch catching the light.
He takes the elevator.
It rises.
The doors open onto the meeting floor.
The moment he steps out, it’s a chorus.
“Good morning, Mr. Kai.”
“Do you need anything, Mr. Kai?”
“Can I help you with something?”
Smiles, lingering looks, secretaries fixing their hair as he walks by.
It’s impossible to tell whether it’s because they’ve shared a night with him… or because his charm is simply impossible to ignore.
Kai doesn’t stop. Doesn’t answer.
He walks like someone who’s used to having the world at his feet.
He reaches the office door.
Opens it with an ease that borders on irritating, as if they weren’t all waiting for him.
Inside, everyone is impeccably dressed.
Except Jairo—faithful to his more casual style, legs crossed, wearing a smile that already spells trouble.
“Gentlemen, good morning.”
“Kai,” his uncle says from the head of the table, “we were waiting for you.”
“I know,” Kai replies, taking off his jacket calmly. “Something came up.”
A lie delivered with the ease of someone who lies often.
Around the table sit the Colombians.
Tense faces. Hard eyes.
They’re here to settle the issue of the missing shipment.
Kai sits between his uncle and Jairo.
Jairo leans in, voice low, amused, brushing Kai’s ear:
“Did that ‘something’ involve some pretty girl keeping you busy last night?”
He laughs under his breath.
Kai shakes his head, gives a faint smile.
But there’s nothing funny about this morning.
The head of the Colombians, Santiago Herrera, adjusts his jacket as he meets Kai’s eyes.
A crooked, irritating smile cuts across his face.
“Kai… it’s been a while,” he says, voice dripping with challenge. “I see you’re taking this meeting very seriously.”
Pure sarcasm.
Kai doesn’t look away.
“I said something came up.”
His voice is steady, firm.
Santiago tilts his head, then raises his tone.
“You’re not in a position to keep us waiting.”
Silence drops heavy.
Kai clenches his fists under the table, knuckles whitening.
It’s how he holds himself back.
Because he’s not the type to bow.
Ever.
His uncle jumps in, trying to defuse the spark.
“All right, let’s calm down. We’re here to solve this. We’ve worked together for years—no need to escalate.”
Santiago doesn’t look convinced.
He leans back, arms crossed.
“And how do you plan to solve it? Do you know how much money we’ve lost?”
Richard nods.
“We’re already taking action.”
Jairo follows quickly:
“Yes, sir. Our men are working day and night. We have many contacts. We’ll find who did this. They’ll pay.”
Santiago studies them one by one, then points at Kai and Jairo.
“Kai was responsible for the shipment. And Jairo was supposed to watch over it. You must’ve made a mistake… or trusted the wrong people.”
Jairo leans forward, irritated.
“We always watch over everything. The culprits are outsiders. Not the ones we work with. They’re loyal.”
Santiago shakes his head.
“Apparently not loyal enough. And in our world, trust is a luxury.”
The words come out slow.
Kai cuts in, voice low but sharp.
“Our agreements with the people handling the other zones have nothing to do with this.”
Santiago stares at him.
“And how can you be so sure?”
Then he gives him that annoying smile—designed to provoke.
Kai doesn’t move.
“We only deal with people we know we can trust. Anyone who works with us knows they can’t afford mistakes. And this situation concerns us. Not you.”
Santiago lets out a short laugh, amused.
A sound that says you’ve got guts, kid.
“You’re brave, Kai,” he murmurs. “I can see you’re not afraid.”
Then his face turns cold.
“But you should be.”
The tension spikes.
Jairo stops smiling.
Richard tightens his grip on his pen.
Kai doesn’t look away.
Santiago adjusts his jacket with infuriating calm, then speaks like he’s announcing something trivial.
“This is how we’ll solve it: you’ll pay us back every cent of that shipment… with interest.”
He pauses, letting the words sink in.
“Because you need to understand the damage we’ve suffered. We don’t care who did it. We’re done waiting.”
Kai doesn’t move.
His uncle does.
Richard looks at him, then at Santiago, worry crossing his face like a shadow.
“You have one week,” the Colombian continues. “And the debt, of course… has tripled.”
Silence.
Kai and his uncle exchange a brief, tense look.
It’s clear the amount is enormous.
Jairo is the first to recover.
He knows he has to speak—because the other two are frozen.
“Sir…” he begins, trying to keep his voice steady. “We’re already searching. Our men are everywhere. We’ll find them. They’ll pay for what they’ve done.”
Santiago shakes his head, like he’s listening to a child’s excuse.
“It’s a lot of money. We can’t wait. And it’ll take you a long time to find them.”
He leans forward slightly.
“The responsibility was yours. Start preparing the money.”
He says it like a joke.
A joke no one laughs at.
Then he stands.
Runs a hand through his hair and gives a confident nod, like he just signed a death sentence.
He leaves without looking back.
The door closes.
And the silence left behind is heavier than the threat.
Richard stays frozen in his leather chair, fingers intertwined, staring ahead.
The room still vibrates with the tension the Colombians left behind.
When everyone else leaves, only he, Kai, and Jairo remain.
Suddenly Richard stands up so fast the chair slams against the floor.
“You’re both idiots!” he shouts, voice shaking the air. “Do you see the mess you’ve put us in? I trusted you completely and what did you do?! You let them screw you right under your noses!”
He walks to the huge windows overlooking the city.
One arm against the glass, the other on his hip.
“The truth is you only think about partying! Those cheap girls you switch every night!”
Kai stiffens.
Then he stands and slams his fists on the table.
The sound echoes through the room.
“Enough!” he explodes. “We’ll pay the money and end this.”
“Calm down, Kai,” Jairo tries.
But Kai doesn’t hear him.
“I won’t let anyone treat me like I’m incompetent!” he fires back, eyes locked on his uncle.
Richard shakes his head.
“Kai, we don’t have that kind of money in a week.”
Kai grits his teeth.
“We’ll find a way.”
He leaves the room without another word.
Jairo follows immediately.
Minutes later they’re already in the Maserati.
Doors slam, the engine roars, and the car shoots forward, slicing through the streets.
“What are you planning to do?” Jairo asks, bracing himself as Kai takes a turn too fast.
“Contact everyone we work with for distribution,” Kai says, eyes on the road. “Increase every spot. We need the money this week.”
Jairo tries to reason with him.
“Kai… we’ll never reach that amount. Your uncle’s right. It’s too little time.”
Kai hits the steering wheel.
A sharp, angry blow.
“We’re trying anyway!” he yells.
Jairo doesn’t argue.
“Fine. Whatever you say.”
When Kai gets home, it’s obvious he’s on edge.
He opens the door roughly, walks in, and throws the keys into the bowl without even looking.
The metallic clatter echoes through the entrance.
He crosses the hallway and reaches the living room.
A maid is fixing the cushions; the moment she sees him, she stiffens.
“Good morning, Mr. Kai.”
“Morning,” he replies, curt. “Leave me alone.”
“As you wish, sir.”
She slips away quietly, almost tiptoeing.
Kai heads to the liquor cabinet.
Grabs a random bottle, pours a full glass, downs it in one go.
The glass hits the wood with a dull thud.
He’s about to pour another when a voice stops him.
“Kai…”
His mother.
Isobel.
She walks in quickly, eyes already worried.
“What are you doing? What happened? And why are you drinking at this hour?”
Kai sets the bottle down.
“Nothing, Mom. Nothing happened.”
“That’s not true.”
She steps closer. “I know you. Something’s wrong.”
Kai tenses.
“I said nothing, Mom. Don’t push.”
His voice comes out too sharp, too loud.
Isobel freezes.
She looks at him, surprised.
Kai is never like this with her.
He stays still, hands on the liquor cabinet, head lowered.
Then he turns slowly toward her.
“Sorry…” he murmurs. “I didn’t mean that. I overreacted.”
His mother approaches gently.
She places a hand on his shoulder, then cups his face.
“What’s happening to you, sweetheart? You know you can tell me anything.”
Kai closes his eyes for a moment.
How could he tell her the truth?
How could he drag her into that nightmare?
He turns to her and takes her arms, holding them softly, as if to reassure her.
“Nothing, Mom. I’m just overwhelmed with work. It’s not you. I’m not mad at you.”
He kisses her forehead.
“Don’t worry.”
Isobel watches him walk away.
She says nothing.
But her eyes speak.
They’re the eyes of a mother who has suffered.
A mother who knows what it means to live beside a man involved in the wrong world.
A woman who spent years enduring, staying silent, protecting her son however she could, terrified someone might take him away or hurt him.
And now she sees the same darkness in Kai’s eyes.
The same weight.
The same trap.
Kai didn’t choose that life.
He was born into it.
Isobel stands still in the living room, hands clasped, watching her son disappear down the hallway.
Her heart pounds.
Fear rises in her throat.
A mother can close her eyes for years.
She can pretend not to see.
She can endure the impossible.
But when it comes to her child…
courage arrives.
Even if it costs everything.
When Richard gets home, he barely has time to take off his jacket before Isobel storms into his study.
She opens the door without knocking.
No greeting.
No hesitation.
“What’s happening to Kai?” she asks, voice steady, eyes locked on him.
Richard looks up from the file he was reading.
“Since when do you care about our business?” he replies, using that tone meant to remind her of her place.
But Isobel doesn’t move.
Doesn’t look away.
Doesn’t back down.
“Since I saw my son isn’t okay.”
She steps closer.
“Kai needs to stay out of your dirty business.”
Richard stiffens.
He walks up to her and grabs her arm hard.
“Don’t you dare use that tone with me.”
Isobel yanks her arm free with a sharp, decisive motion.
“I’ll use whatever tone I want.”
Her voice doesn’t tremble.
“You don’t scare me. If I stayed quiet all these years, it was only for Kai. But when someone threatens a mother’s child, she becomes dangerous.”
Richard stares at her, thrown off.
He’s never seen her like this.
“Kai won’t become like you,” she continues, stepping even closer. “I won’t allow it. Keep him out of your business, Richard. Or you’ll see a side of me no one has ever seen.”
She stops inches from him.
“For my son, I’m capable of anything.”
Then she turns and leaves the study without waiting for a reply, giving him one last hard, fearless look.
The door closes.
Richard stays frozen, speechless.
It’s maybe the first time Isobel has truly rebelled.
The first time he’s seen something in her eyes he never expected:
Courage.
Determination.
Fury.
A mother who has suffered too much.
A woman who has lost too much.
Someone who has nothing left to fear.
A mother’s love can do anything.
Fear disappears, and courage takes over.
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and then Add to home screen.